How Texans voted

THOMAS VOTING REPORTS

May 16, 2015

WASHINGTON – How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:

Senate

1. Fast-track trade debate: Agreed, 65-33, to take up a bill (HR 1314) that would allow a Pacific trade agreement to move through the Senate free of amendments or filibusters. President Barack Obama said he needs this fast-track Trade Promotion Authority to gain Senate approval of the proposed 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is still being negotiated. The House also will vote on the trade pact, which would lower or remove tariffs and duties to spur trade among the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. A yes vote was to allow fast-track Senate consideration of the trade agreement.

2. Currency manipulation and trade: Passed, 78-20, a bill (HR 644) giving the Department of Commerce tools for penalizing imports from countries such as China thought to be devaluing their currencies in order to gain a trade advantage over the U.S. The administration said the bill could provoke retaliation against U.S. exports. It favors addressing currency-manipulation disputes through negotiations with offending countries. The bill also would tighten U.S. rules against the importation of goods produced by child labor, among other provisions.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the House.

3. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates: Confirmed, 84-12, Sally Yates as deputy attorney general. Yates, 54, had served since 2010 as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and before that she was a litigator in private practice.

A yes vote was to confirm Yates for the second-ranking position at the Department of Justice.

1 2 3

Cornyn(R)San Antonio Y N Y

Cruz(R)Houston Y N Y

House

1. Curbs on domestic surveillance: Passed, 338-88, a bipartisan bill (HR 2048) that would end the National Security Agency's collection and storage of bulk data on Americans' phone calls and other telecommunications under laws such as Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Under the bill, when the agency requests authority from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to search telecom records involving U.S. citizens, it must provide specific information - short of probable cause - to identify its target in the context of a terrorism investigation. The agency would obtain its desired records from databases in the private sector, subject to court review. The bill sets up an outside panel to advise and monitor the intelligence court on privacy issues. It also establishes a mechanism for prompt disclosure to the public if the court were to approve an overly broad records search. Overall, the bill renews three sections of the USA Patriot Act that are due to expire June 1. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where the Republican leadership opposes it.

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2. Stricter abortion limits: Voted, 242-184, to send the Senate a GOP-drafted bill (HR 36) that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of fertilization on grounds that the fetus can feel pain by then. This repudiates the medical standard in the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling, which holds that abortion is legal up to when the fetus reaches viability - usually after 24-to-28 weeks of pregnancy - and after viability if it is necessary to protect the health or life of the mother. Under Roe, viability occurs when the fetus can potentially survive outside the womb with or without artificial aid. This bill allows exemptions for victims of rape or incest and to save the mother's life. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it may face a 60-vote hurdle.

3. Mothers' health exemption: Defeated, 181-246, a Democratic attempt to add a broad health exemption to HR 36 (above), enabling women to legally have an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy if it is necessary to protect their short- or long-term health. This went beyond the underlying bill's narrowly drawn exemptions. A yes vote backed the motion, which, had it prevailed, would have immediately amended the bill.